1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for acquiring data and storing data automatically in association with a mode annotation. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus in which data elements acquired by the apparatus are associated with an annotation reflecting a user set or an automatically set operating mode that the apparatus was in at the time the data was acquired. The association with the mode annotation enables efficient later data retrieval through recall via the associated mode annotation.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Many wireless communication devices enable their users to select one or more operating or user modes. For example, some wireless communication devices, such as the NOKIA Model 6110 portable phone, allow the user to define and select mode preferences, such as xe2x80x9cgeneralxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9coutdoorxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cmeetingxe2x80x9d, or xe2x80x9csilent.xe2x80x9d The different mode preferences may alter the way the device sounds to alert the user about incoming messages. For example, in the xe2x80x9coutdoorxe2x80x9d mode, the volume of an audible alert signal may be set to its loudest setting and the phone may only allow private calls to activate the alert signal. In the xe2x80x9cmeetingxe2x80x9d mode, the audible alert signal may be set to the quietest setting or an alternative alerting means, such as vibrations, may be employed. In this mode, it may also only provide alerts for calls from calling stations which have a calling station identification that matches an identification contained in a stored priority list, while diverting all calls from non-matching stations to the user""s voice mail box.
As disclosed in published European Patent Application EP 0865188, the operating modes or functions of a portable or mobile phone can be controlled in response to sensed control parameters. Although the phone may acquire some data in the course of its operation, such acquired data is typically limited to data that assists with selection of its operating modes or functions. Communicators, such as those made by NOKIA bearing model numbers 9000 or 9110, are a form of wireless communication device combining the features of personal digital assistant (PDA) and mobile phones, thus providing enhanced functionality over mobile phones, in general. Such enhanced functionality includes the ability to collect data from data sources distributed about a global network, data which may not be relevant to its operation. In some cases, the acquisition of data may be an automatic, passive function of the communicator device or may be initiated by the user from time to time via the selection of a previously defined user mode. The passively acquired data is typically in the form of one or more records or data files.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,319 discloses a method for naming computer files. The disclosed method uses a computer program to generate an information screen display at a terminal. The information requested on the screen includes a prompt for a submission number. From the submission number a set is created which is intended to hold a plurality of image data files. The information is entered by a user prior to saving any images. Images are acquired and corresponding video outputs are presented to a computer where the images are digitized to generate image data sets and subsequently saved. The saved image file is assigned a file name corresponding to the submission number followed by a suffix. For each subsequent image, file saved, the suffix is automatically updated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,250 discloses a method for creating and sharing replayable modules representative of a web browsing session. The disclosed method annotates entries in a session file with text, audio, video or various combinations of these.
Some advanced digital cameras allow the annotation of data after and during its capture. Annotation is performed by permitting an audio recording to be made at the time the image is acquired. Some cameras allow images to be stored in predesignated folders. Unfortunately, these annotation solutions require the user to expend energy to select particular annotations at the time of data capture or afterwards.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method that can acquire and store data so as to be associated with a mode annotation to indicate the operating mode of the apparatus at the time the data was acquired. Such mode annotations permit an organized and efficient recall of such annotated data based upon different operating modes of the apparatus. The object is accomplished, at least in part, by the method which has several steps, including: providing a data acquisition apparatus having a plurality of operating modes and a storage device for storing a data element; selecting one of the plurality of operating modes; and selecting a mode annotation which is indicative of the selected operating mode. The method also includes the steps of operating the apparatus in the selected operating mode; acquiring a data element; and storing the data element so as to be associated with the selected mode annotation on the data storage device. In one embodiment, the apparatus is equipped with a physical sensor adapted to sense a physical condition and a logical sensor adapted to sense a logical condition. In this embodiment, the operating mode is selected in response to the physical condition and the logical condition sensed by the physical and logical sensors. The mode annotation is then selected automatically to correspond to the operating mode selected.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description read in conjunction with the attached drawings and claims appended hereto.